In the third game of Women’s T20 Challenge. Supernovas took on Velocity in Jaipur on May 9 where Supernovas won the game by 12 runs. Despite losing, Velocity qualified for the Final due to superior net run-rate. However, Jemimah Rodrigues scored an unbeaten 77 and guided her side to put up a decent total. While talking about this at the post-match presentation, she said that it was important for her to bat till the end.
“I think it was important for me to play throughout as I was batting pretty well,” Rodrigues said. “I am normally used to playing on such kind of surfaces. It is difficult for the new batsmen to come in and get settled. I took a bit time but I was meeting the ball well and just looked to time the ball.”
“My coach had told me to time the ball well and not try to hit it too hard and I just looked to get a proper impact on the ball,” said Rodrigues. “I think the confidence I get while playing the on-drive is something no other shot gives me.”
Read here: Liam Plunkett Thinks England Will be ‘Better Team’ With Jofra Archer
Her captain Harmanpreet Kaur, however, praised Jemimah Rodrigues for the knock.
“I think we didn’t bat well in the first six overs but we still managed to score 140. Later on, the bowlers did well,” Harmanpreet said. “As long as everyone is performing it helps the confidence. We just wanted to win the game and now, we can come up with more plans at the final.”
On the other hand, Velocity put up 130 after 20 overs where Danielle Wyatt scored 33-ball 43, captain Mithali Raj scored 40* and Veda Krishnamurthy scored 30* as well. They needed 117 runs to qualify for the final and they did it with ease.
“Initially we thought if the openers give us a good start, we’ll definitely play to win,” said Mithali Raj. “But considering we lost two early wickets, and I know our batting unit depends mostly on the top order, it was important that me and Veda could gather as many runs as possible. We knew that we needed 117 to qualify and everyone was aware about the plan.”
“Danni played very well. If she had continued till the end, maybe we could have scored those runs by which we lost,” she further added.
“When we fielded three fast bowlers, I thought if they bowled stump to stump, and on a nagging length, it would have helped. But couple of our bowlers didn’t have a good day and a few misfields and dropped catches didn’t help,” Mithali further added. “Still considering the kind of batting depth Supernovas had, we kind of restricted them to 142.”
Also read: Williamson Thinks Inability to Finish Close Games Caused Their Win
While talking about the dropping catch, she said that they weren’t used to the floodlights, and that cost the missed chance.
“It does get difficult under lights as the girls aren’t used to it. They do practice but it takes time to get adjusted to,” said Mithali.
The two teams will face each other once again in the final on May 11 in Jaipur.